It’s easy to buy ammunition online, and theater shooting suspect James Holmes took advantage of that fact when he acquired 6,000 bullets with just a few clicks.
It was easy enough for Holmes to acquire the weapons he allegedly used in the crime — he bought them at Denver area gun shops. But it was the purchase of the ammunition that raised our eyebrows. Picking up a few thousand rounds online was a bit more involved than the process you’d use to buy Beanie Babies, though, with ammo sites asking for documentation before they’ll fork over the bullets:
- Be at least 21 years of age
- Submit a copy of a government issued identification that shows you are at least 21 years of age.
- Never have been convicted of a felony or crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year
- Never been adjudicated as mentally defective or been committed to a mental institution
- Never have been a fugitive from justice, an unlawful user of any controlled substance
- Have not been dishonorably discharged from the Armed Forces
- Never have renounced his or her US citizenship
- Have not been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence;
- Never have been subject to a court order that restrains the person from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner or child.
Sites such as SGAmmo.com, AIMSurplus.com and good ol’ Wal-Mart are more than willing to sell more rounds of ammunition than anyone would ever need. All that’s required is an emailed, mailed or faxed ID and your assurance (no proof needed) that you’ve met the above list of requirements.
It’s a scary list: Assault rifle with 100-round magazine, powerful .40 caliber pistols, a 12-gauge shotgun. Holmes was armed with enough weapons and ammunition to kill hundreds — if not thousands — of people. Is it a good idea to make it so easy to acquire such weaponry along with its associated ammunition? Maybe instead of gun control, activists should be calling out for ammunition control.
Mashable’s Coverage of the Colorado Theater Shooting
- 12 Killed in Mass Shooting at Batman Premiere in Colorado
- ‘Dark Knight’ Theater Shooting Suspect Is an Online Mystery
- Witness to ‘Dark Knight’ Shooting Describes Chaos [VIDEO]
- President Obama ‘Shocked and Saddened’ Over ‘Dark Knight’ Shooting [UPDATED]
- Colorado Theater Shooting: How it Played Out Online
- Theater Shooting Suspect James Holmes Studied Neuroscience
- Jessica Ghawi, Theater Shooting Victim, Escaped Shooting Last Month
- Other James Holmes Mistaken on Facebook for Theater Shooting Suspect
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